The 6th Annual Naperville Irish Fest brings live Celtic music, Irish step dancing and Guinness-battered fish and chips to Central Park on Friday, Sept. 18, and Saturday, Sept. 19.

The two-day festival at 104 E. Benton Ave. features hurling demonstrations, whiskey tastings and vendors selling Irish goods, according to Patch.

West Suburban Irish (WSI), a Naperville-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, organizes the festival. The group was founded in 1993 when Naperville resident Kevin Dolan launched the city's first St. Patrick's Day Parade, according to a profile by NCTV17. Irish Fest, first held in 2021, has become WSI's second signature annual event.

Hours and tickets

Friday gates open at 4 p.m. and close at 10 p.m. Saturday hours run noon to 10 p.m.

Single-day tickets cost $15 per person or two for $25, plus fees. Children 12 and under get in free and do not need a ticket. Tickets are available through WSIrish.org.

Entertainment

The lineup spans Irish rock, traditional music and championship step dancing. Friday opens with the McNulty Irish Dancers at 4 p.m., followed by Mulligan Stew, On the Lash and Classical Blast closing the night at 8:15 p.m.

Saturday features eight acts starting at noon. The Firefighters Highland Guard of Naperville opens the day, followed by Bailey Murray Academy, the Joyce Boys, Bentley Academy of Irish Dance, Celtic Roots and The Chancers. Reilly closes the festival at 7:55 p.m.

Food and tastings

The festival's food area, called Finnegan's Fare, includes Frank O'Dowd's food truck serving Guinness-battered fish and chips, Reuben sandwiches and Scotch eggs, according to a naperville.com guide.

Off-site tastings are scheduled at Quigley's Irish Pub on Jefferson Avenue. A Guinness tasting takes place Friday at 5 p.m. An Irish whiskey tasting follows Saturday at 2 p.m., featuring pours of Midleton Distillery Green Spot, Powers Irish Rye, Three Swallow, John's Lane 12-Year and Gold Label. Tasting tickets are sold separately at wsirish.org.

Volunteering and extras

WSI offers a volunteer incentive: for each shift, the organization donates $25 on the volunteer's behalf to one of five local nonprofits. Ancestry Sisters® Genealogy Services will also be on-site for attendees curious about their Irish roots.

Colleen Doyle, WSI's director of marketing, described the organization's philosophy in a February interview with NCTV17: "We are about fun, friendship and service."

Central Park sits three blocks from the Naperville BNSF Metra station for those riding the train downtown.